Software issue grounds 340 American Airlines planes amid holiday rush
An issue with aircraft software has prompted Fort Worth-based American Airlines to temporarily pull 340 of its Airbus A320 aircraft from service, officials from the airline said on Friday.
The issue was identified after “an event” on another carrier’s aircraft and is affecting Airbus planes worldwide, officials said.
Analysis of the event found that radiation from the sun may corrupt data that is necessary to the function of flight controls, an Airbus spokesperson said.
Based on an initial safety review, there are no indications of similar events occurring on American’s jets, airline officials said.
Airbus has advised carriers to implement a software update, a process that takes around 2 hours per aircraft to complete, according to a statement.
“Airbus acknowledges these recommendations will lead to operational disruptions to passengers and customers,” a spokesperson said. “We apologize for the inconvenience caused and will work closely with operators, while keeping safety as our number one and overriding priority.”
The airline is “intently focused” on limiting flight cancellations as passengers travel on the holiday weekend, officials said.
“Our overriding priority will always be the safety of our operation,” the statement reads. “It’s all hands on deck across our airline to address this Airbus software issue and take care of any customers whose flights are affected.”
Sixty-two American Airlines flights have been cancelled for Saturday Nov. 29, according to online aviation database FlightAware.
This story was originally published November 28, 2025 at 5:19 PM.
